IN THE NEWS: Greens urge against feral animal bounties

The NSW Greens have warned the state government against introducing cash bounties for killing feral animals, saying such a program would be a "political gimmick".

Greens MP David Shoebridge on Tuesday said there was no proof that offering a bounty for wild dogs, foxes, cats and rabbits would control their prevalence in NSW.

Mr Shoebridge said bounties, as suggested by the NSW Farmers Association, would not be an efficient use of taxpayers' money.

"Scarce public funds are far better targeted at professional pest removal programmes aimed at long term population control rather than on political gimmicks like bounties," he said in a statement.

"With the hunting lobby on the rise in NSW, it is highly likely the O'Farrell government will move to throw them another bone and this could well be a cash-for-carcass programme in the form of bounties."